


The Briar Crown

by omegaling



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Retellings, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Robin Hood AU, Sleeping Beauty AU, True Love's Kiss, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 14:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6524320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omegaling/pseuds/omegaling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eighteen years ago, the heir of Alderaan was born to Queen Leia and her consort, Han Solo.</p><p>Eighteen years ago, the dark king Snoke appeared and placed a curse on the baby, foretelling that his life will come to an end on his eighteenth birthday when he cuts his hand on the edge of a sword.  The only way to save him is to send him away with his uncle in the most remote regions of the queendom until the curse has passed over.</p><p>Eighteen years later, the exiled prince, lonely and bitter in his isolation, meets a rogue on the run from the law in the swamps of Dagobah, and neither of their lives are the same again.</p><p>Eighteen years later, the darkness gathers its strength in the north...</p><p>Sleeping Beauty AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Briar Crown

** Prologue **

It was after midnight, and the whole city of Coruscant was wide awake.

Its citizens took to the streets hours ago, filling every road, every lane and thoroughfare, all faces pale beneath the starlight as they gazed up at the grand castle perched on the hill at the center of the city.  Except for the occasional murmur of conversation or a drifting titter of laughter all were silent, as though the whole of Coruscant was holding its breath.

Lights suddenly bloomed in the sky above the castle’s tallest turret, gold and red and brilliant, followed an instant later by a resounding boom.  The waiting crowds uttered a collective gasp, then as one, began to cheer madly as more fireworks burst over their heads.

The prince was born at last.

* * *

 

“Han, am I allowed to hold my son again?”

“You carried him for nine months, I’d thought you’d be thrilled to have someone take him off your hands for a while.”  The look on his wife’s face told him otherwise, and Han Solo sighed.  But before he relinquished the bundle of blankets back to her he looked again into the sleeping baby’s face and swooped him back towards him again, his face illuminated with a smile whose intensity had yet to wane.  “But just look at him, Leia!  He’s perfect!”

The queen of Alderaan sighed as she settled back against her pillows.  “What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the past hour?” she remarked, though her voice held none of its infamous bite.  In truth, seeing the way her husband – the consort to the thorn – looked at their newborn son was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and she was content just to watch them for a little while longer.

“Don’t tell me you two are fighting over him already.  The poor boy won’t stand a chance at that rate.”

Leia and Han both looked up to see Luke, Leia’s twin brother, enter the chamber, his boyishly handsome face beaming.  His ever-present companion, a blue falcon called Artoo, perched on his shoulder, the bird’s sharp eyes already trained on the bundle of blankets in Han’s arms. Also accompanying him was Han’s long time friend Chewbacca, a wookie from the southern forests of Kashyyyk. The great hairy giant immediately went to Han, and at the sight of the baby began to make a deep, comforting purring sort of sound.  Luke kissed his sister on his cheek then looked down upon his nephew for the first time.

“Poor kid,” he said with a frown.  Leia and Han’s smiles flickered.  “He has his father’s nose.”

“If I wasn’t holding him right now I’d deck you,” Han retorted, but his eyes glittered with good humor as Chewie chuckled.

“My hands are free,” Leia offered.

Luke laughed lightly, though he still kept a wide breadth of Leia’s bed.  “I’m only joking.  He’s beautiful.” He reached out a hand to gently stroke the baby’s plump cheek with the back of his fingers.  As soon as they touched the impossibly soft skin the baby opened his eyes and wriggled one arm free of his swaddling blanket and grabbed hold of the digits.  For a brief moment Luke was stunned into silence, his gaze trapped by a pair of deep brown eyes that were entirely too clear and focused to belong to someone only a few hours old.  “Strong, too.  Did you decide on a name yet?”

“Benjamin,” Leia said with a smile.

“You named him after Old Ben? Truly?” Luke asked, reeling from his second surprise in as many seconds.

“Of course.  He was father’s best friend, and if he hadn’t saved his life on Shyloah Crest neither of us would be here, much less him, so it only seems right.”

“Benjamin Amidala Skywalker,” Luke mused, looking back into his nephew’s unsettlingly sharp eyes.  “You have quite the name to grow into, little one.”

There was a tentative knock on the door and it opened just enough for a tall, thin man with a shock of impossibly golden-blond hair to stick his head through.  “I’m so sorry to interrupt, your Majesties, but I need to inform you that Master Yoda and Mistress Maz Kanata have arrived, just as you told me to.”

“Yes thank you, Threepio.  Show them in,” Leia said as Han at last passed the cooing bundle back to her.  “And please prepare some refreshments.  It’s been a long journey for them both, and we all know how much Master Yoda enjoys his tea.”

“And don’t forget Maz’s Ergesh rum, or we’ll never hear the end of it!” Han called after him.

A few moments later the chamber doors opened again to admit two of the most curious beings one has ever seen.  No one quite knew where Yoda and Maz Kanata came from, only that they had been the most trusted advisors and supporters of the Skywalker dynasty since the dawn of their rule of Alderaan.  Only coming up to waist-height of an average human, Yoda seemed especially wizened as he leaned upon his walking stick compared to Maz’s ramrod posture.  Their skin was similarly starkly contrasted - his the color of the moss of Dagobah’s swamps in the south, hers the hue of the sands of the Jakku deserts in the far east - and his large, protruding ears off-set her thick spectacles.  Han had been confused when Leia insisted that there was no reason to inform Yoda nor Maz of the impending birth, even though they both had considerable distances to travel to get to Coruscant.  Unsurprisingly, his wife, as usual, had been correct; somehow, the two ancient beings just _knew_.

“A powerful name, like his mother and her father before,” Yoda said in his unexpectedly deep, gravely voice, picking up the end of their last conversation as though he had been there the entire time.  “Grow into it, there is no doubt.”

Tiny Maz attached the bed, laying a three-fingered hand on the queen’s arm.  “If I may see the child?”

Leia shifted so Ben and Maz were now face-to-face.  Maz reached up to adjust the lenses on her face, her eyes growing huge behind them as they focused.  For several moments no one moved nor spoke; they only watched Maz as she stared at the baby with such intensity it was as if she was looking right into him.  Ben stared back at her the entire time.

Finally, Maz smiled.

“This child has old eyes.  They’re the same eyes I’ve seen in the greatest kings and queens to sit in Alderaan’s throne.”  She looked pointedly at Luke and Leia.  “They are the same eyes as Anikan Skywalker.”

“A great destiny, the child will have,” Yoda said, nodding sagely.  Artoo clicked his beak, as if in agreement.  “Long may be the rule of Benjamin Amidala Skywalker.”

Threepio brought in the refreshments as requested, and once properly served - tea for Leia, Luke, and Yoda, Ergesh rum for Han, Chewie and Maz - they all toasted joyously to the life and health of the crowned prince of Alderaan.

* * *

 

The celebration for the birth of Prince Benjamin lasted for a whole week.  While the citizens of Coruscant and later, as the news traveled outward, the rest of Alderaan welcomed the heir with feasting, drinking and music, the queen and her consort’s time was partially occupied by the visiting nobility and gentry come to pay their respects.  The rest of their time was spent caring for their son.  Unlike many other women of noble birth, Leia was not about to pass off the care of her baby to a nanny or a wet nurse, and she cherished every sleepless hour and squalling demand.  She and Han had struggled for too long for a child to miss even a moment.  Ben brought them, as well as Luke, closer than ever before.  Everything was perfect.

Until the night that it was all taken away from them.

* * *

 

On the eve of the eighth day after Ben’s birth, a terrible storm rolled in from the north to completely engulf the whole of the Alderaan queendom.  The sky was covered in black, roiling clouds that unleashed torrents of unending rain and sleet that swelled the rivers and flooded the roads at an alarming rate.  The wind howled like a pack of devils, pulling trees out of the ground by their roots and clawing shingles and shutters from homes.  It was the worst storm in living memory.  Beyond the castle walls all of Coruscant lay shrouded in darkness, its citizens hiding themselves from the phantom beasts stalking the streets.  Queen Leia did not allow herself to worry until the night she found Yoda staring out the rain-blackened windows of the throne room, a frown on his ancient face.

“Coming, the darkness is,” he said.  Those four words injected a shadow fear directly into her heart.

As though responding to Yoda’s ominous statement, the storm rose to frightening new heights.  The wind and rain seemed to grow claws and eyes and voices, tearing at all the windows and doors and wailing down the chimneys of the castle as though desperate to find a way in.  Ben cried for hours, refusing to be soothed despite his mother’s, father’s, and uncle’s best efforts. It was well after midnight by the time Ben finally fell into a restless sleep.  Leia, exhausted between her duties as a new mother and the stress incurred by the storm, collapsed onto her own bed immediately afterward, plunging into a dreamless sleep as soon as her head touched her pillow.

Leia awoke several hours later, every nerve in her body electrified.  The storm continued to rage outside, the wind and lashing rain creating shadows on the walls and ceiling that twisted and writhed like mad beasts. But it was not the shadows that made her heart slam behind her ribs or her breath came out as short, rasping pants.  No: rather it was that inherited, wordless mothering instinct that told her something was horribly wrong.

“Han, wake up!” Leia cried out, leaping out of bed.  Han sat bolt upright, instantly awake.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” he called, but Leia did not answer; without so much as grabbing her dressing gown she dashed across their room, flinging open the doors on that far side that led to Ben’s nursery.

As soon as the doors were fully opened Leia groaned and collapsed to her knees, her ears ringing and chest constricting in on itself.  It took her a moment to realize that she had not been struck with a physical blow as she thought she had, but rather by one of emotions as all her darkest memories rolled over her at once: The crushing grief when she heard her father had fallen on the Mustafar lava fields on the borders of the cursed land Korriban and the helplessness of watching her mother fade away from the resulting heartbreak: The sense of betrayal when Luke relinquished all claims to the throne and disappeared into the wilds of Alderaan for five years: The rage when she learned her missing betrothed was being held hostage by the crime lord Jabba the Hut in the badlands of Tatooine over a years-old grudge.  The emotions wrapped around her like a giant snake, crushing the air from her lungs until black spots danced in her vision.  She was only dimly aware of Han calling her name, his hands under her arms as he tried to pull her back to her feet, but she felt as though she were outside of her own body, his efforts wasted on a puppet.

Little by little the overwhelming onslaught began to relinquish its hold over her, allowing Leia to come back to herself.  Her vision swam back into focus, but when she was at last able to look into the nursery it was nigh impossible for her to convince herself that she wasn’t looking onto a nightmare.

The balcony doors were flung open, banging against the walls on either side, the gossamer curtains snapping as the rain and wind tore into the room.  Beyond the window the rest of the room was unnaturally still, as though an invisible wall was keeping the storm out.  The darkness that permeated the nursery was not of the normal nighttime variety, spangled with starlight and silvered by the moon.  This darkness was heavy and viscous, dripping from the ceiling and oozing down the walls onto the floor, and wholly, horribly unnatural.  Something moved in the darkness, black against black; something vaguely human in shape though that’s where any similarities to humanity ended.  It slithered across the room to loom over Ben’s cradle, lowering its semblance of a head until it hovered only inches from where the baby lay.  In the cradle, Ben was absolutely still.

The queen regained control in an instant.  A scream of the likes she never imagined she was capable of producing torn from her throat, and she threw herself at the nightmare creature with no other thought than to protect her baby.  She didn’t even made it three steps before an invisible force grabbed her by the throat and lifted her cleanly off her feet, letting her dangle in the air before tossing her across the room as though she was nothing more than a doll.  Leia hit the wall with enough force to knock the air from her lungs leaving her without enough to even whimper as she slumped to the floor.  A different kind of ringing resonated through her ears and when clarity finally returned she saw Han slumped against the opposite wall, his head hanging limp against his chest. Suddenly she could not see him at all as the creature stepped before her; she found herself staring into the face of infinite blackness, its eyes gleaming like the last two cold, distant stars in the universe.

Fear burned through every fiber of her being, but Leia refused to let it control her, no matter how furiously it clawed at her mind.  “You can’t have Ben,” she hissed at the shadow creature, forcing strength into her voice that she did not feel.

“Daughter of the Sky King,” the creature said with a voice that sounded like it came from the bottom of a hole bored straight down to hell.  “For generations thy family has sought to defeat me, and each successor has lacked the strength to do so.  Even thy own father’s sacrifice on Mustafar was in vain.  I have since grown weary of our centuries-long game.  The reign of the Skywalkers will at last see its end, washed from history by thy babe’s blood.”

The shadow creature turned back to the cradle, taking with it Leia’s ability to even scream.

The door leading to the corridor outside the nursery were suddenly thrown violently open, and in a flash of lightening Leia saw something silvery-blue streak into the room, screaming as it flew at the creature’s face with talons outstretched.  The creature shrieked its pain as it recoiled from the cradle, its too-long arms flailing as it tried to pull Artoo from its face.  Then Ben was wailing and the queen was on her feet again, running so fast she may have been flying herself, scooping up the baby and retreating to the safety of her brother’s arms as he entered the room.  The huge figure of Chewbaca stepped past them, his warm fur brushing Leia’s arm as he raised his massive crossbow and fired a bolt at the creature.  Artoo screamed again as he wheeled out of the bolt’s way, but before it could strike home the creature flung out its hand; the bolt froze in its trajectory, quivered, then shattered into a million splinters and metal fragments.

“You fools,” it hissed.  “Thou shall pay for this indiscretion with thy souls.”  It started to advance on them - Chewbaca struggled to reload his crossbow - Leia shut her eyes and buried her face against Luke’s shoulder - then the air around them felt to crystalize, surrounding them in invisible armor.  The thing’s hand brushed the barrier and sparks of white smoke exploded from the digits.  It shrieked again, a sound that curdled Leia’s blood each time she heard it.

“A grave mistake to come here, Snoke, as weak and crippled as you are,” a voice said down at Leia’s legs.  Yoda strode confidently into the room, his ancient face set in stony determination.  Each time his walking stick struck the ground the creature recoiled further away from them, hissing.  “And desperate, to attempt to slaughter an infant in his cradle.  This is not the night the Skywalker legacy sees its end.”

The creature considered the figures standing in the door; then it gave a low laugh, a sound that sent spikes of ice piercing Leia’s spine.  “A fair point thou makes, Master Yoda.  My strength is still compromised by the whelp’s grandsire.  Therefore, until my strength fully returns, a curse I bestow upon the boy.” The shadow stretched its arms wide, the darkness spreading outward like a pair of terrible wings, pressing against Yoda’s barrier like a tangible force.  Leia felt it pressing against her temples, quickly becoming unbearable.  “On the eve before the prince is to become a man, he shall re-open the scar I gave him on this night on the edge of a sword.  Then the last Skywalker king will not wear a crown of gold upon a throne, but one of briar thorns within his tomb.”

Yoda scowled at the creature and then thumped his staff once, hard, on the floor.  With a howl the creature was struck by a great invisible blow, throwing it out the window and from the room completely.  As soon as it was gone the unnatural darkness was banished with it, but not without leaving a scene of carnage behind it.  The nursery was in shambles: furniture overturned, toys destroyed, light fixtures hanging askew from the walls.  But of the creature’s evil malevolence, Leia could sense nothing.

The world suddenly felt to lurch violently back into motion.  Chewie rushed back into the room, crossing it with only a few strides of his huge gait to kneel next to Han.  It was not until her husband coughed and groaned that Leia allowed herself to breath again.  Ben continued to cry against her breast, a single, long unbroken wail.  Leia started to comfort her son, making wordless shushing noises into his dark curly hair, when she became suddenly aware of a thick, wet warmth spreading sluggishly across her front.  Pulling the baby away, she saw with a wave of horror that dwarfed anything she felt before that Ben’s blankets were soaked in bright red blood, matching the stain on her nightgown.

Leia tried to scream for Han, but the sound got stuck between her lungs and her mouth.  Instead she started to tear away at Ben’s blankets, desperate to see what lay beneath but at the same time terrified at what she would find; behind her, Luke was shouting at Threepio to bring the castle surgeon.  Ben’s entire right side was saturated, but try as she might she could not find the source.  When she at last freed his arms she saw it: a clean gash that nearly bisected the palm of his tiny hand.  A sob tore from Leia’s throat, the sight of that horrid wound in her son’s flawless skin robbing her ability to do anything but stare stupidly at it.  Thank the stars for Han, who took up a clean section of the blanket and pressed it to the wound, applying just enough pressure to staunch the flow.

Yoda continued to stare intently at the open balcony doors and the darkness that lay beyond.  The doors continued to bang against the walls, though now with less force; the storm was at last losing its strength.  Finally he shook his head and turned around.

“Dark days ahead of us, there shall be,” he said solemnly.

The castle surgeon arrived at last, with Maz and a very flustered Threepio close behind.  The surgeon spoke only a few words to Han - Leia still hadn’t recovered her ability to speak - before gingerly lifting Ben from her arms and carrying him toward a chest of drawers, using it as a makeshift examination table.  Leia made to get up and follow, but Han stayed her with a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll stay with him.  You rest; I want the surgeon to look at you too when he’s done with Ben.”

For once, Leia didn’t protest.  She started to lean back against the wall, but before her back could touch the plaster Luke’s arms wrapped around her, and she gratefully fell against him instead.  For several moments nobody spoke, and aside from the diminishing storm outside were Ben’s whimpering hiccoughs and his father speaking softly to him as the surgeon worked were the only sounds to be heard.  It was finally Luke who asked the question everyone else was afraid to ask.

“Master Yoda, was that really...him?” Luke asked, a tremor in his voice.  He swallowed before continuing.  “Snoke?”

“Yes,” was all Yoda said, but the single word carried a terrible weight.

“But...how?” Leia asked.  “We were always told Father defeated him on the Mustafar lava fields, that they killed each other.  How can that possibly be him?”

“No. Not defeated; only weakened and imprisoned,” Maz said.  “Even the great Anikan Skywalker was unable to fully vanquish such evil, but he came closer than any of the kings and queens before him.  Since the beginning of the dynasty each new generation of the Skywalker lineage grew stronger than the last, and it’s now evident that Snoke believed that his fate may finally be sealed with the birth the new prince.  But is still weak from his final battle with King Anikan, and he is afraid; the fact that he was here tonight to slay Ben in his cradle is testament enough to that.  Had you not stopped him when you did, I’m afraid he would have done just that, but a mother’s love is far stronger than what he is capable of now.  All he was able to do was curse the child instead.”

“But you can lift it, right?” Han said from where he still stood with Ben and the surgeon.  Leia felt her heart drop to the floor when Yoda and Maz simultaneously shook their heads.

“Ten generations worth of hatred bore a curse of that strength.  Be broken, it cannot,” Yoda said solemnly. Tears were already streaming down Leia’s face before he finished speaking. Then she felt the touch of a small, calloused hand on hers, and when she looked back up at Yoda there was kindness in his eyes.  “But all hope is not lost.  Breaking the curse, it cannot be done. But defeating the curse, possible it still may be.”

“How?” Leia gasped, restraining herself from grabbing the front of Yoda’s robes in her desperation.  “Tell me, we’ll do anything!”

“Snoke made a grave mistake by giving his own curse a time line: it will only be on the prince until he turns eighteen,” Maz explained.  “If the hand bearing tonight’s scar is not re-injured by a sword by the time the sun sets on that day, the curse will pass and Snoke will lose his power over him.”

“So what are we to do until then?” Han asked, a hard edge to his voice as he rejoined the others, Ben back in his arms.  From where she still sat on the ground Leia could see his tiny fist was bound in layers of white gauze.  “Ban all swords from the queendom until then?  Melt them down to make enough cutlery to last us the rest of the century?  Not an easy task with this monster breathing down our necks again.”

“Hide the child,” Yoda said.  “Safe he must be kept from all blades until then.  It is the only way.”

Despite her declaration of doing whatever it took only moments ago, Leia blanched.  “H-hide Ben?  You mean, send him away?  For eighteen years?”

“I’m afraid I agree.  It is the only way, if we want to be absolutely certain that Snoke’s curse cannot touch him,” Maz said.  “I know it is a great sacrifice to ask any mother to make, but if your son is to survive this and become the king that Snoke fears he will become, it is your best hope.”

“But… but _where_?  And with _whom?”_

“I’ll take him,” Luke immediately said.  “I’ll take him back to Dagobah with me.  The only people who come through the swamps are merchants on the trade route to Kashyyyk, but most of the time I go months at a time without seeing anyone at all.  It will be easy to keep him hidden and away from unwanted visitors and any bladed weapons until then.”

Leia looked up at her brother, grateful and heartbroken at the same time.  She had no doubt in her mind that Ben would be perfectly safe with uncle: Luke was practically a master in the art of disappearing for long periods at a time. But the mere thought of giving up her baby to anyone, even a family member...and for eighteen years…  She then looked up at Han in helplessness, her heart breaking even more at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes.  He knelt beside her, cradling Ben between them.  

“Is there really no other way?” Han implored.  “The castle has never been taken by an enemy before, and surely there has to be somewhere inside secure enough to keep him safe.”

“Many weapons does Snoke have at his disposal that are far more dangerous and deadly than those of mortal men,” Yoda said.  “The very powers of darkness, he can manipulate.  Even with the curse, always after the child’s life he will be.  As long as the prince remains where Snoke knows he is at, safe he is not.”

A fresh wave of tears coursed down Leia’s face.  “When… How soon does he have to leave?”

“Snoke already has him marked.  The sooner, the better,” Maz said softly, sympathetically.

“Dawn,” Yoda elaborated.  “Enough time it will be for Lord Luke to prepare for the journey to Dagobah.  And to give your farewells to the prince.”

Without saying another word Yoda, Maz, Chewie, Threepio, and the surgeon left the room.  Luke was the last to go, pausing only briefly to place a hand on Leia’s shoulder before leaving her and Han alone with Ben and their grief.

* * *

 

The terrible storm that ravaged Alderaan had at last moved on by the time dawn broke the next morning, leaving the land soggy and bedraggled in its wake.  It also took with it all the color in the world; the sky was a cheerless gray and all the buildings in Coruscant had been reduced to shades of sepia and brown.  Leia, Han, and Chewie walked solemnly down the servant’s corridor to the stable yard.  The queen and her consort were dressed entirely in black, and every now and then Chewie made a soft moaning noise.  They resembled the smallest and most somber of funeral processions, but instead of following a casket they were mourning the bundle of blankets Leia carried in her arms in which Ben slept soundly, unaware of the fate that lay before him.

Luke was already standing by his horse, making final adjustments on its saddlebags; Maz and Yoda stood either side of him, waiting.  No one spoke for a long time, as though keeping the silence would prevent the world from moving forward.  Eventually, Yoda sighed.

“It is time.”

Luke approached his sister, waiting for her to make the first move.  All through the night Leia had envisioned how impossible to would be to give Ben up - they would have to rip her arms from their sockets before she relinquished him - so the ease in which he was transferred from her arms to Luke’s came as a shock to her.

“I won’t let anything happen to him, Leia.  I swear on our parent’s names and all the Skywalkers that came before them,” Luke vowed.

Leia only swallowed and nodded, not trusting herself to say anything.  She placed one last parting kiss on Ben’s brow, then allowed Han to take her by the shoulders and pull her away.

With Ben secure in his arms, Luke deftly mounted his horse and turned it toward the gates.  He looked back at Leia and Han one more time before giving his horse a swift kick in the flanks and galloping through the gates and out of sight.

“Go with the light, Luke Skywalker,” Yoda said.

Han wrapped an arm around Leia’s shoulders and kissed the crown of her head.  “It’s eighteen years, Leia.  He won’t be gone forever.”

“No,” Leia agreed.  “It will only feel like it.”

She remained standing in the stables long after everyone else returned indoors.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> This fic is dedicated to several people on Tumblr: shipatfirstsight for the original prompt, thejgatsbykid for the generous permission of use of his outline, justapegacorn for writer support, and lieinrestlessecstacy also for her support and for letting me vent on various fandom issues.
> 
> I mostly took on this prompt not only for its promise, but because I wanted to give something back to the amazing Reylo community, and writing is the best way I can express that.
> 
> That being said, I am by no means a fast writer. This partially comes from I insist on doing mostly hand-written first drafts, and then there are issues such as work, taking care of a toddler, etc. But, I'm hoping that I have enough steam going with the fandom that I have more than enough inspiration and drive to last me for a while. I am also simultaneously working on several original stories as well, so I am trying to alternate between this and keeping them moving, and as always, the original stories have precedence over this (at least for now). But I'm feeling optimistic about this, so let's see how it goes.


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